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Dekoppachi
Dekoppachi (デコッ八), created by Fujio Akatsuka, is a supporting cast member of Extraordinary Ataro as well as a part of Akatsuka's Star System. Overview A hard-headed boy in both a literal and figurative sense, Dekoppachi is Ataro's trusted friend and partner at Yao-Batsu. Though he was not present from the initial stage of the manga, the impact he had as a cast member resulted in him being promoted to an earlier role in both animated adaptations. Dekkopachi was also another case of an Akatsuka character who was granted a name by the readers, with him never having a name stated in-story up until the reader poll and winning vote provided him with one. Physical Appearance Dekoppachi is a short young boy, with a particularly large, swollen forehead that results in him having a heavily creased brow. This "stone head" proves to be rather useful in a fight, and is in fact as hard as rock. His eyes are often depicted as simply black dots, and he bears prominent moles on his face as well as a bucktooth. He is often dressed in a single-button shirt and pants, but may wear other clothing as dependent on the setting (particularly in the "Flower of Dekoppachi" spinoff). Personality Dekoppachi is a short-tempered, argumentative but passionate sort of boy who won't give up easily, which can get him into fights but also lead to him to never abandon those in need. He is well-liked by girls, at times being even more popular than Ataro, which can lead to conflict between the two and a positive or negative outcome for the situation. In the 1990 anime, he is not very appreciative of girls until he is captivated by Reina's beauty in episode 2. Relationships with Other Characters In addition to Ataro and the usual crowd around Yao-Batsu, Dekoppachi is known to get involved in various situations surrounding issues with other people and of course, can easily attract a girl. Deko-chan Dekoppachi's younger sister, existing in a single "Flower of Dekoppachi" setting and appearing in episodes 83 and 88 of the first anime. She is a hard-worker and good at painting, but Dekoppachi is uncomfortable with her homely face and that fact she looks too much like him, attempting to earn money to get her plastic surgery. Deko-chan, however, sees nothing wrong with her looks, and at the end of the story questions "Just what is wrong about me?". The anime goes with a similar but different plot for her debut, having her as a sister that came to Tokyo from Dekoppachi's hometown. In episode 88, she is shown to be an employee at her uncle's Yamanoshita Hotel, which is in danger of closing. Mina A robot maid girl, created for Dekoppachi by Dr. Ataro in another "Flower of Dekoppachi" tale. Though she seems like a mere robot, she falls in love with Dekoppachi but becomes jealous and hurt over the fact he likes Kako. She winds up broken-hearted and shabby, and seen helplessly sweeping up a park a year later. Though Dekoppachi tries to negotiate with the park manager Dayon in getting Mina back, realizing his mistake in ignoring her, he learns that she was sold to Boss Kokoro's waste collection center and winds up distraught to see her having been reduced to scrap metal. The story of Mina was loosely adapted to different extents for each anime, removing Dekoppachi's role and substituting it with that of Ataro. However, in the first anime adaptation, Dekoppachi does have some degree of dynamic with the human maid Mina, attempting to buy presents for her younger brothers and sisters and wanting to replace her damaged shoes. Kako A young girl, debuting in "The Flower of Dekoppachi" in the Mina robot story but receiving a brief later prominence in a manga chapter and the 1969 anime. She is a customer of Yao-Batsu and comes to be very fond of Dekoppachi, as does her older brother, and she likes to invite him for meals or holidays at her home. It is mistakenly thought in some later sources that she was created for the anime, due to the Dekoppachi chapters initially being reprinted as an "extra edition" of Ataro tacked onto the reprints, and no publishing dates given. The anime itself exaggerates her prominence and importance in its second opening, to have her and Totoko used as two particular female characters that are protected by Dekoppachi and Ataro, only for both girls to be seen giving Dekoppachi flowers later. Fujimaro Akatsukada A character existing in the first anime, in a "Prince and the Pauper"-style plot. He looks almost identical to Dekoppachi, other than the fact he lacks moles, and happens to be part of the millionaire Akatsukada family. He and Dekoppachi attempt to switch places, only for dysfunction to ensue. Matsubara-san A rich young girl Dekoppachi is once seen to have favor for when delivering to her house in the chapter "Dekoppachi's Red Rose", that winds up spawning a triangle situation between the two of them and Ataro. The rose she gave Dekoppachi wilts as she and Ataro seem to form a better relationship and go on an outing together, but Batsugoro restores it to make Dekoppachi believe there is still hope for him. Though her given name is not stated in the manga, the 1969 anime calls her "Sayuri" and the 1990 anime has her name set as "Reina". Tonko Another young girl, known only as the "Oden Girl" in the manga, who also appeared in the above story. In the 1969 adaptation, she breaks up Dekoppachi's vegetable delivery to get him to eat oden with her in the park, getting Ataro mad at him for slacking off and instead delivering oden to customers. Her part is erased in the 1990 anime adaptation. Ganmo Another boy in the neighborhood, who winds up being a rival to Ataro and Dekoppachi, aiming to drive a wedge between them and steal away Dekoppachi's popularity with the girls. However, the two manage to get revenge on Ganmo and his own sidekick. Moko A young girl who appears to be much richer than Dekoppachi, which leads him to lie to her and claim that he too is rich and that Ataro is merely his servant. Dekoppachi attempts to learn how to be a classy man from Boss Kokoro in hopes of keeping up the facade, but this falls through fast. However, it is revealed by the end that Moko was also telling her own lie about being rich, when it turns out she was the same girl he was writing letters to. As in Akko-chan, Moko is shown to be the older sister of Kankichi, who Dekoppachi attempts to assist when he sees the child crying about having gotten lost. The pair of siblings are stated to live in the Kanda district of Tokyo. In the 1969 adaptation, though Moko's name was changed to "Miko", her character design and details otherwise remained the same. Yet when it came to the 1990 anime adaptation, her character was replaced with a much different girl named "Himeka Ayanokouji" that otherwise had a younger brother named Kankichi and served an equivalent role (though the two now live in Mejirogaoka). Dekoshichi A young boy claiming to be Dekoppachi's long-lost brother, in the case of the second anime adaptation. Yet even as he looks and sounds like he can be the real deal, he is in fact a scammer. History Dekoppachi and Ataro first met when Ataro traveled to the ski resort "Yukida", with him being only able to ski with the help of Batsugoro. After showing off his skills to Dekoppachi, who became easily impressed, Ataro soon found himself with a new friend that decided to travel back to Tokyo and become his new assistant at Yao-Batsu. At first, the new atmosphere was a little rough for Dekoppachi, due to the fact that he would get easily fight-happy with customers or other citizens over trivial matters. He also refused to believe that Ataro's father was still around as a ghost, but became convinced after Batsugoro was targeted by messengers from Hell, along with the fact that the man would wind up able to communicate to him by possessing animals. Appearances in Animation Furious Ataro (1969) Dekoppachi appears early on as a naughty child living in Tokyo, who likes to make trouble for Ataro and his father at Yao-Batsu. After Batsugoro's death, however, Dekoppachi winds up impressed by Ataro's motivation to continue on with the store and decides to work with him starting with episode 3. As with the manga and its spinoff, there are occasional variable settings with Dekoppachi through the show. Furious Ataro (1990) As in the manga, Dekoppachi and his father (given the name of "Dekoichi" in this version) live at Yukidaya, which is now shown to be a hot spring resort. Though Ataro and Dekoppachi start off on rough terms, they come to understand each other and Dekoppachi is present in Tokyo when he hears of Batsugoro's death, with the two boys reconciling and vowing to work together soon after. From the second episode on, Dekoppachi becomes the only other person to be able to see the ghost of Batsugoro, as he decides to believe in his existence. Portrayals Voice Acting *1969 series- Midori Kato *Hitachi Television City: Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom- Seiko Nakano *1990 series- Kyoko Tongu Live Action Foreign Names Gallery Trivia References External Links * Dekoppachi profile at Koredeiinoda (Japanese) Category:Characters and Mascots Category:Extraordinary Ataro